[1992-08-21-GWF] Manny Fernandez vs Butch Reed

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Reed has slipped, but not that much, and still looked pretty good. Same for Manny. I wonder if this is what prompted Watts to give Reed a shot in WCW shortly thereafter. Two 80s holdovers have a solid match. Interesting within the yearbook concept because I'm pretty sure both guys fell off the planet after 1992. Loving the post-match Manny interview.

[Tim Evans]

Butch Reed returned to the wrestling world in 2007 when he was Teddy Long's best man for his wedding on Smackdown. He looked exactly like he did here. As for the match, it went way too long but I liked the commentary by Rod Price and the other guy.

[Matt D]

I always felt like this was a pretty surreal match. Reed plays the face in this right?

[shoe]

Butch Reed returned to the wrestling world in 2007 when he was Teddy Long's best man for his wedding on Smackdown. He looked exactly like he did here. As for the match, it went way too long but I liked the commentary by Rod Price and the other guy.

 

The other guy was John Tatum who a lot of people have been raving about on the DVDVR 80's sets.

[shoe]

I always felt like this was a pretty surreal match. Reed plays the face in this right?

 

Reed was the face in this match.

[shoe]

Put me down as a guy who liked this. It was a solid meat and potato match. Manny working over Reed's neck, and Reed working over the Bull's arm. The story was fine. The finish was fine if we were building a rematch. The work was just unspectacular where their wasn't a lot off oohs and ahhs. As a fan of Fernandez I'm glad it's there.

[Kevin Ridge]

Alright but a bit long. It was curious to see these guys as haven't seen much from them in the 90's. Thought the commentary was pretty good. Fernandez mistakingly calls somebody Bruiser Brody in his interview.

[WingedEagle]

Fernandez looked pretty good here, bumping well and doing a good job working Reed over while on top. Would've been a lot better if they chopped a third or half of this off, as it eventually dragged quite a bit. Still good to see these guys. Good fiery promo from Manny afterwards.

 

**1/4

[PeteF3]

I'd like to have seen that angle with Fernandez and David Webb--and the big Elvis-related fallout from it. Basic but solid little match, with Manny's offense looking really good. And Tatum and Price provide some entertaining hijinks on commentary--Price actually having a "rulebook" with him as we see at the end was great.

[garretta]

This wasn't bad. Both guys worked hard, and though I would have preferred some type of finish, I understand that they wanted to build this into a lasting feud, so I'm not complaining.

 

It seems like they wanted Manny to be the top heel here, since he was the one going beyond the pale by beating up announcers and the like. So Webb thought he was Elvis after this, huh? Who was booking this, and what on earth were they high on?

 

Sam Houston as the Midnight Rider? Boy, he really took that stuff about being Dusty's protégé to heart, didn't he? What feud could he have possibly been in that got hot enough for him to dust off that gimmick?

 

Nice to hear Gary Hart's name again, and he seems to be up to some of his old tricks.

 

I liked Price and Tatum a lot; there's a definite Frick and Frack vibe to them that should make them quite an entertaining pair on commentary and in the ring. I actually would have preferred just the two of them on commentary; they don't need a straight man, especially a substitute straight man. It was nice of them to plug King's radio show, which they (in particular) didn't have to do. I also liked their slightly backhanded comments about Fernandez; it seems like they're trying to be equal opportunity offenders who will back up their mouths against everyone.

 

I sure hope the Bruiser Brody references were mistakes due to Brody Powers (whoever he is) having a similar name. Given what I've heard about this promotion, though, it wouldn't shock me that they were deliberately planned, to what possible end I don't know.

 

For a second when Price and Tatum referenced Putski, I thought they meant Ivan, what with Fernandez and Reed being the match I was watching.

 

Was beating up announcers supposed to be part of Fernandez's M.O. going forward? He sure seemed like he was threatening King as the segment ended. By the way, I was surprised to see that Global had syndicated TV at this time; this match was taped from a station in Michigan.

[dawho5]

Way better match than I would have expected from Global, but it is hardly surprising because both these guys are always at least solid.  I liked the two guest heel announcers too, Tatum and Price do really well.  Manny gets a little off the rails during his promo, but it's mostly good and he keeps the intensity up.